Black Dice will be releasing their sixth album, Mr. Impossible, on 9 April. The album is on Domino imprint Ribbon Music, which also released John Maus's We Must Become The Pitiless Censors Of Ourselves.
Mr. Impossible will be released on CD, LP, and digitally. A screen printed version of the LP will be available in a limited run of 350 copies. Listen to "Pigs", and watch the video for the same track below.
Bang On A Can have released a free album download to celebrate their 25th anniversary. The Bang On A Can All Stars album is titled Big Beautiful Dark And Scary, and is free to anyone in exchange for a memory for their 'scrapbook'. The album is available until 26 January. Get it here.
Soundclash selector and reggae broadcaster David Rodigan has been awarded an MBE in the 2012 New Year's honours list, for services to broadcasting. Rodigan began his radio career in 1978 on BBC Radio London, moving to Capital and then the British Forces Broadcasting Corp, until joining Kiss 100 in 2009 where he presents a Sunday night reggae show at 11pm.
Watch Rodigan in action below. Listen again to his Sunday reggae shows here.
[Hat tip: United Reggae]
Rhizome has opened applications for its 2012 commissions cycle. The programme aims to support emerging artists through grants of between $1000–$5000 to create new works that will "push the field of technology engaged artworks".
To apply artists are required to create a web page for their proposals (either on their own site or via Rhizome's online application system), including a 500 word project description, production timeline and budget, plus CV and samples of previous work.
Deadline for applications is 15 April, with the voting process beginning on 18 April. For full details on submitting an application head here.
Sandwell District (Dave Sumner, Karl O'Connor and Juan Mendez) have announced that they will be ceasing audio communications from the label, for the moment. While a post on the Sandwell District site said that "all vinyl artifacts have been decommissioned", it also mentioned the possibility "of future, albeit irregular print communications with audio accompaniment".
Juan Mendez says: "We stopped Sandwell District the same way we started it – through intuition. It's what anyone with a passion or half a brain would have done. It will never get old. No one will be able to impose their clean values on it. We will all continue to work together. Nothing has changed but everything has shifted. It was a glorious death, not a mercy killing, as is so often the case in these situations."
Read their statement here. Sandwell District were interviewed by Robin Howells in The Wire 334, December 2011.
Synthesizer composer, author, and film maker Richard Lainhart died on 30 December from complications resulting from surgery to remove intestinal cancer.
Lainhart estimated that he had performed live approximately 2000 times, and composed over 150 pieces. He developed the One Sound concept, described as "a music in which a single complex sound, or many instances of a single sound, form both the content and the structure of the piece - a music in which one sound is all there is to listen to."
Lainhart was interested in natural processes like waves, clouds and flames, and began his career studying composition and electronic music techniques with Joel Chadabe. He went on to work with John Cage, David Tudor, Steve Reich, Phill Niblock, David Berhman, and Jordan Rudess, among others.
Lainhart was also an artist and illustrator – his short films were shown in Europe, the US, Canada and Korea, and he won awards at the International Festival Of Cinema And Technology in 2002. He is survived by his wife Caroline Meyers. Read an interview with Richard Lainhart here.
Sunn O)))'s Stephen O'Malley is curating a new series of events at Cafe Oto throughout 2012. The first event focuses on his Ideologic Organ label, and takes place 4 February, featuring duos of Andrew Chalk with Timo Van Luijk (as Elodie), and Eyvind Kang with Jessika Kenney.
Between four and six concerts are planned for the year, and O'Malley will be in attendance, although Oto say he'll only be playing if it makes sense in the context of individual events. More shows to be announced in the coming months. London Cafe Oto, 4 February, 8pm, £10/£12.
The Ex are returning to Ethiopia for the fifth time, with poets Jaap Blonk and Anne-James Chaton, plus Paal Nilssen-Love and Zea, under the theme of sound poetry. The group will travel to schools, theatres, a music school for the blind, a circus in Debre Berhan, nightclubs and other venues to play and collaborate with Ethiopian artists.
The tour is being filmed and edited by Emma Fischer, and teaching materials and copies of the resulting documentary will be left in Ethiopia in easily copied formats. The tour runs for one week, 2–7 January. More info here.
Ljubljana's Institute for Sonic Arts Research, IRZU has opened a call for papers and music for the 38th edition of the International Computer Music Conference, which will be held in Ljubljana, Slovenia on 9–15 September. Paper submissions are accepted in the areas of philosophy, aesthetics, live coding, AI, hardware and software systems, and the history of electronic music. For a full list of topics covered at the conference head here.
Audio submissions are also being accepted, including installation works and live coding works and laptop performance. More info here. Submissions open 4 January, with the deadline for submissions on 15 February. Selected papers will be announced on 1 May. Submissions can be made here.
EMI will release a two disc retrospective of David Sylvian's solo work in February 2012. A Victim Of Stars 1982–2011 includes tracks released on Virgin Records and his own Samadhisound label plus one extra track titled "Where's Your Gravity?"
David Sylvian tours Europe in March 2012. Full tour listing here, and more information A Victim Of Stars 1982–2011 here.